Preparation Day — John’s Sabbath context
John 19:31 connects Preparation Day with the approaching Sabbath, and 19:42 repeats the term at burial. Mark 15:42 explicitly defines Preparation as the day before Sabbath. Friday of Passover week is a possible reading of John 19:14; Friday terminology alone does not prove Nisan 15.
Scripture
- John 19:14 — The disputed phrase is Preparation of the Passover; John places Jesus before Pilate about the sixth hour.
- John 19:31 — Removal of bodies on Preparation Day is linked explicitly to the approaching Sabbath.
- John 19:42 — Burial in the nearby tomb is explained by the Jewish Preparation Day.
- Mark 15:42 — Mark explicitly defines Preparation Day as the day before the Sabbath.
- Luke 23:54 — Preparation Day and the beginning of the Sabbath are connected at burial.
- Matthew 27:62 — Matthew names the next day as the day after Preparation.
- John 19:36 — John relates Jesus’ unbroken bones to Scripture fulfillment. This verse does not give an execution hour or Nisan date.
- Exodus 12:46 — Passover instructions forbid breaking the animal’s bones. This supplies background for the unbroken-bones comparison, not a timestamp for Jesus’ death.